Out & About. Tuesday 27th December

[Bush Tucker Man]

With A Differance!!

As is usual when it snows up here, as we're usually 'lucky' (as SWMBO put it :roll:   ) & don't get much, we went out this morning snow-hunting.

The usual suspects were on the hit-list.
Penistone
Woodhead Pass
Holme-Moss
Saddleworth Moor

So a route was formulated, well it's my well-worn & trodden ride-route (from my cycling days).

Wife, 'small-child' & in-laws were all thrown in to the Discovery & off we went.
I'd really expected to run into the first of it around the Scisset/Clayton West area (home of 'Langley Farm 4x4 Show', & where Karloss used to reside)
But nothing was to be found , so pressing on we entered Denby Dale (home of the giant Pies)
Still none.

So over through Upper Denby to Penistone, stopping off to let in-laws look at a Discovery Td5 in a garage that I'd told them about.

So onwards & upwards, heading towards the Flouch Inn, as we broached the crest of the drag under the old route of the electrified trans-Pennine railway (canned, as it was a 'stand alone' system & incompatible) a Ford Ka came round the corner at Fulshaw & with complete understeer ran wide onto our side of the road, drive tried to correct, clipped the kerb & down the ditch, then into a very solid stone wall.
I thought for one horrible moment that it was going to roll as it went into the ditch
Thankfully it was about 200yards ahead, so I screeched to a halt,  instantly contempleted blocking the road by parking across it, but then again not with 5 passengers on board.

By the time I was out, the Ka occupants were climbing out & a following car slowed down, driver hurled abuse & drove off! :shock:  :shock:  

The front-seat passenger (teenage girl) was almost in hysterics & bleeding from (what looked like her wrist)
Driver & other passenger (young males) were out & looking at the car.

Wife & myself took charge of the girl, sat her in the Discovery, wrapped up in a coat & towels held firmly round the hand.

Whilst we were doing this the in-laws had called Police & Ambulance, so we knew help was coming.

(thankfully upon Paramedic arrival, we found she'd only lacerated her thumb & got some glass shards in her palm)

Police came, took driver statement & my details as a witness, don't know if he told them he'd been (probably) overtaking the abusive driver??
Surprisingly the driver was local, so ought to know how dangerous that bend is, (as can be seen in the 'Multi-Map' link) it's a right-hand bend, with a 40mph advisory limit)
I must admit I didn't see the other driver pull up & go, as I was concentrating on making our position safe by reversing up onto the grass before going to help.

Still it could have been worse, if we'd been;
5 seconds earlier, they'd have got us as well
5seconds later & they'd have just used our side to straighten out & continued.
It could have been a lot worse though, it could have been an artic opposing them

Multi-Map (for people who know the area)



And to top it all off, there was no snow anywhere, not even on top of 'the Moss', just a dusting    

[Jas278]

A lucky escape for you, another few yards a little more mph ,what a mess,some folk insist on putting others at risk, lets hope the driver learns from this..........

[strapping young lad]

one of our customers came home through saddleworth from lincoln and said it was clear

but another said he is going to northumberland for a wedding tomorrow

rather him than me shivering me knick knacks in the cold!

[clips]

follows on from the lunacy i saw the other day. transit tried to overtake a motorcyclist in a tight gap and decided that instead ov avoiding said cyclist would take a short cut across his rear wheel.
 thankfully motorbike and cyclist stayed on their side of the road, not heading towards our 90, even more thankfully, by the time i'd pulled up safe and the vechiles behind also, he had got up and was checking bike over. Not convinced the transit stopped, but benefit of the doubt. Just cannt believe the manouver i saw and how relieved i was at the then outcome.
 think we all need a little extra patience some times.

[Colin 009]

This is just my opinion,

 but I think the media and police could do a lot to stop people driving like idiots.

They police should release pictures of the aftermaths of accidents and they should be shown on the news, in newspapers.

I may be naive, but I think after seeing enough blood and carnage, people might start to slow down.

[hobbit]

Ironically I was around Nottingham today, people seemed to be stuck in second gear, warm roads, no snow just wet, but doing 10 mph :shock:

We had showers but no settling, but the odd one was determined it was horrendous conditions and crawled along in sunshine! It seems some people cannot find a happy and safe medium between the suicidal and should be walking phases :?

[Bush Tucker Man]

Forgot to mention, the young girl stated that it was the 2nd incident of the type she'd been involved in recently (don't know if it was with the same driver??)

[Jim-Willy]

Illustrates what a nice geezer you are BTM, i would have had a few things to say to someone using my bit of road.

[Bush Tucker Man]

Illustrates what a nice geezer you are BTM.

 :oops:  :oops:  :oops:
You're embarassing me.
Well, I don't think I know anyone who would have simply driven past.
After all if it hadn't just happened (surprisingly no other vehicle passed for a few minutes) & the impact speed/angle had been differant, we might have been witnesses in a Coronors court.

Still, they all walked away, hopefully the driver will be a bit wiser (slower)in future. Sadly, it probably won't happen, he'll possibly think of himself  as invincible?

Bottom line (as I see it);
Excess speed for road conditions (greasy & damp)
Insufficient driver ability to read conditions (hence excessive speed)
Very tight corner (they were approaching from the west; the tighter apex)

[Jim-Willy]

Oh i would have stopped for definate, i would have had a awfull lot to say though.  Twice lately i have had to take evasive action to avoid idiots on the road.  One day i'll just hold my line and bye bye White Van Man / Chav Boy.

[Bush Tucker Man]

What's a bit funny is that when the Bobby turned up from Penistone, or Barnsley, in his Terrano, he asked if it was my Discovery that was the vehicle 'off the road',  :lol:  :roll:
We had to point the Ka out to him, but it had started snowing heavily for a few minutes.

I'll look out & see if it's mentioned in the 'Yorkshire Post' this morning.

[Bulli]

Nice work Richard!
Its good to know there are a few of us left out there, i always seem to turn up at the right/wrong moment!
Its just started snowing heavily here in Bramley! And there is about 2 inch on the ground.
The police do have pictures of accidents, they are shocking. The problem i have with the way the police try to police is this. They come to bike dealerships ,i used to work for Carnells, and say this  is what happens. When you question them it turns out the really horrible pictures(i am not going into detail - they are bad) are all bike thieves and scumbags being chased by the police. Sorry i have no sympathy for em. Its legitimate users that always have to deal with the aftermath and i think showing pictures of criminals doesnt make me think twice. Im not the same as them and wouldnt get into the situations they have.

[Bush Tucker Man]

The police do have pictures of accidents, they are shocking.

 When you question them it turns out the really horrible pictures(i am not going into detail - they are bad) are all bike thieves and scumbags being chased by the police.

I'm not too sure I'm against this, in particular with relationship to younger riders/drivers.
Anything that (shall we say?) scares them into being sensible on the roads can only be a good thing, there's far too many of the 'Playstation Generation' that think it's the same result as on the PC;
Crash & you walk away.

I've seen the pictures, & human results, far too many times at work.

For example, never 'argue' with a Scania artic when you're in a Focus

[Baby_Rhino]

Well done for stopping and sorting the situation out- you'd be suprised how many people would just drive past and turn a blind eye. Glad everyone was ok, and hope the driver realises you cant drive a baked bean can fast round tight slippery corners  :roll:

[Bulli]

Richard i agree. If it was genuine 'normal' people who had these accidents that are ebing shown then i think it would be a strong deterant.
I dont think younger drivers are always the ones at fault. I dont often get cut up by ford KA's and the like. Normally its Mr REP in his mondeo/whatever who thinks he knows it all and owns the road.
I just despair at the police .My big bike attracts a lot of attention and i have been stopped many times. Amazing, every copper that has ever pulled me up has a bike and "knows what its like" - do they think Im stupid. Unfortunatly at that point you arent in the position to say you are full of BS mr policeman.

[Bush Tucker Man]

At least the wall's been rebuilt now, I went round this road on Friday 24th & wondered how the girl was (Even though it was only a cut thumb)
Guess I'll never know..........
Unless I find another Ka in a ditch :roll: